Kokorowakokoniiru
by keiina
Summary: Five years after their victory in Love Live!, school idol group μ's had a long awaited reunion. A lot has changed in everyone, but feelings of love and hatred stayed the same...


**Kokorowakokoniiru (One-shot)**

Nishikino Maki sat on the piano chair of their vacation home on the mountains, she's been waiting for the other members to arrive after not meeting each other for so long. It's been five years since they won "Love Live", they still tried to keep in touch with each other even after high school, but everyone became so busy with their own lives that they found no time to meet. Now finally, on a snowy mountain home they'll have their reunion. After playing a few songs the doorbell rang and upon opening the door where two of her friends stood, Hoshizora Rin greeted her with a big hug.

"Maa-ki-chan!" Rin said while holding Maki surprising her old friend

"Rin-chan, you shouldn't... it'll be bad if you get Maki-chan angry" Koizumi Hanayo said from behind

"Why? Maki-chan is still Maki-chan right? She likes being hugged by Rin right?" replied Rin who's still rubbing her face on an surprised Maki.

"Surely I won't get angry by being tackle hugged by someone I haven't seen for almost two years but whoever said I like being hugged by you" Maki teased pinching Rin's cheek. Hanayo burst laughing behind them and Maki then ask them in since the weather is bitter cold.

"So how are you two living?" Maki asked as she was serving tea

"We're alright, Rin-chan is very supportive of my singing and we two are doing our best" Hanayo answered with confidence unfamiliar to Maki

"That's right! I'm working multiple part-time jobs to support us too" Rin added proudly "I'll see to it that Kayo-chin will be the best recording artist in Japan!"

"What about you Maki-chan, do you still write music?" Hanayo asked in return

"I haven't even played piano for a long time before today, medical school is really taking a lot from me" Maki answered staring at her cup. "I'm not like you guys who can just go ahead and do whatever you want you know… I… I'm sorry, I should not have said that"

"It's okay Maki-chan, we understand" Hanayo comforted. The two realized Maki's position, her pursue of music stopped when she started college while they are living their dream.

"It's not easy either you know; leaving home and living together, running away from responsibilities and the world" Rin said with a straight face "...but no matter what we're happy that we did the things we wanted to do. Maybe you shouldn't let chances like that get away". Maki was about to answer when the doorbell ringed again.

"You three really are inseparable huh?" Maki said after the greetings, she then led Kousaka Honoka, Sonoda Umi and Minami Kotori to the living room where Hanayo and Rin waited.

"Well, Honoka said she wanted to meet with us first, but it was because she doesn't have a car" Umi explained

"Unfair Honoka-chan! Kayo-chin and I hiked all the way up here after getting off the bus"

"Ehe, I missed you Rin-chan" Honoka said as she went to give Rin a hug, Hanayo thrown them a dangerous look, she had always been jealous of Honoka.

"Calm down Honoka-chan…" Kotori said holding Honoka back

"Kotori-chan, you just got back right?" Hanayo asked

"Yes, I missed Japan so much" they came to an understanding and pulled Honoka and Rin apart

"Now all that's left are the third years" said Maki

"It's kinda weird calling them "the third years" now isn't it?" Honoka commented

"Eli texted me this morning, she said she'll be coming together with Nozomi and Nico" Umi said looking at her phone

"On a car too? Kayo-chin, when I get rich I'm going to buy you a car!" Rin said seriously

"Now now Rin-chan, maintaining a car is such a bother you know, you have to take care of this and that and driving is sometimes scary" Kotori explained

"And Rin-chan, you don't know how to drive right?" Hanayo interjected

The six sat and drank warm tea in the living room of the Nishikino vacation home. Everyone shared how they are living their life since they all last met. How Kotori is finishing her fashion designing program abroad, how both Honoka and Umi are inheriting they're family businesses (traditional Japanese dance dojo and a Japanese sweets shop respectively), how Maki is doing in medical school and how Rin and Hanayo are now living together. It's four in the afternoon and the other three; Toujou Nozomi, Yazawa Nico and Ayase Eli haven't arrived yet and just when Umi was about to head out to call Eli, she met the small figure of Yazawa Nico standing there.

"Nico, the other's are inside, go ahead,I'll just give Eli a call" Umi said after their greetings

"No need to do that, they won't be able to make it today" Nico said simply

"Huh? What do you mean they won't?" Umi asked surprised

"You see… they said they would go ahead and spend the night at a hotel together all lovey dovey, maybe they'll get here tomorrow" Nico answered

"Hotel huh? The two of them?" Umi's face was blank, she didn't know how to react. She dashed back inside and Nico followed her, she went straight to the toilet and in there reread Eli's text message that morning in tears: "I'll give my answer to your feelings tonight, I want to do it personally. It's weird being with her just right after we broke up but Nozomi and I will be coming together, Nico would be with us too so we won't be alone just the two of us". "I guess this is your answer" She murmured while wiping the endless tears from her eyes.

"Nico-chan!... where's Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan?" Kotori asked when Nico entered their circle

"They can't make it, they have other plans it seems" Nico answered smiling to everyone "Why is Nico-chan smiling like that? The two had other plans? Maybe that's why Umi-chan…" Honoka's train of thought went straight to her friend.

"So… how's "Super Idol Nico-nii Nico-chan" doing these days?" Rin asked excitedly

"That's right, we understand that you became very busy after going pro but you haven't talked to any of us at all" Hanayo said sulking a bit

"Well I've been really busy… but now everything is going to be fine, Nico-nii's star will shine even brighter from now on" Nico said scratching the back of her head

"Ehhh… Nico-chan, you really are doing your best" Kotori commended

"But what do you mean with "shining even brighter"? Honoka asked

"You see I made drastic decisions in my life and I think it will lead to the best!" Nico replied with a smile

"What… decisions?" everyone looked at Maki as she asked she's been quiet since Nico came, she's a bit nervous about seeing her again after a long time

"It's a sec-ret" Nico answered mischieviously which made Maki feel a bit down

"Could it be that you're finally dating someone now?" Rin asked playfully

"No… nothing like that" Nico replied without responding to Rin's mood

Maki felt somehow relieved that Nico isn't seeing anyone. She've always regretted not telling Nico how she feels the day of her graduation five years ago, she always thought that she'll have the courage and the chance to tell her every next time but they just continued to drift apart as time went by. "This time for sure" she thought.

"Nico-chan, isn't it about time you make dinner?" Honoka asked after a while

"That's right, I'll cook the rice!" Hanayo proclaimed

"I got everything you would need for curry at the kitchen" Maki added

"Did we agree to this? Hmmm… I guess I have no choice" Nico said in response

"But Nico-chan, you always cook for our outings, it's the best cooking there is" Rin said

"I'll start now, Maki-chan, can you show me to the kitchen" Nico said as she stood up, she followed Hanayo and Maki to the kitchen leaving the other three.

"Don't you think that Nico-chan is acting weird?" Honoka asked when the three was out of earshot

"What do you mean Honoka-chan?" Rin asked though she felt the same way. Honoka on the other hand can't seem to point out what she meant by what she said

"It's like she's not the Nico-chan we came to know" Kotori answered for Honoka

"A lot has changed you know, maybe you two are just overthinking… by the way, where's Umi-chan?" Rin finished.

"I'll head back to the living room, the rice cooker will take care of it for me" Hanayo waved as she walked out of the kitchen. At last, Nico and Maki are alone in the room together.

"You seem well…" Maki said awkwardly to the other girl

"You too" Nico replied as she add more ingredients not giving her much attention

"Nico-chan, I love you, since we were in high school I've always had my eyes on you. I've always pretended to find you annoying but the truth is, you're the only one who's able to make me smile everyday like that and when you graduated, the days I spent apart from you became colorless!" Maki suddenly blurted out, the torrent of years of emotion from her heart she cannot stop. Every word she regretted as soon as they all came out of their mouth. She was about to apologize and run away when Nico spoke

"Then Maki-chan, prove it" she said as she face Maki

"Prove…?" Maki was confused, her confession sure was weird but Nico reaction was even more odd

"If you love me as you say, then kiss me" Nico said with a straight face that scared Maki

"Kiss you? Nico-chan…" Maki's mind is a whirlpool, her heart a drum roll, she wasn't able to say anything when Nico stepped closer to her and closed her eyes.

"Then… here I go..." no matter what happens, her desire to get closer to Nico is strong. Confused as she was she still went forward, leaned and planted her lips unto Nico's, closing her own eyes and plunge in the darkness of her first kiss. After parting from each other's lips Nico looked at her eyes.

"I've always loved you too Maki-chan, I was scared that you might reject me if I ever told you back then. I mean you're way too perfect to even like someone like me…" Maki ended Nico's sentence with another kiss, the first one wasn't enough for her. This time is longer, after hearing Nico said that she loves her too, she wasn't able to contain herself.

"Don't say things like that, I'm far from perfect and don't even say that I don't like you" Maki said before holding Nico to kiss her again. Maki thought she was the one in control but the Nico grabbed one of her now more mature breast that making her moan inside her lovers mouth which made her own mouth open for Nico's tongue's attacks. Maki surrendered "If it's Nico-chan she can do anything she want with me, heart and body" she thought. Nico's hand was about to go under Maki's blouse when they heard someone clearing her throat and the smelled something burning.

"Umi! It's not! Nico-chan and I are…" Maki stuttered

"...dating now" Nico finished as she put down the fire

"Congratulations you two" Umi smiled with her now dry but puffy eyes "... we've always known you two would end up with each other"

"Who's we?" Maki asked curiously still blushing from Nico's sudden announcement

"Me and E...li" Umi replied, Nico's news rushed back from her memories "...well I'm sorry if I interrupted you two, but you really should take your cooking seriously Nico" she finished and then stepped out

"Yes yes, don't worry, Nico-nii Nico-chan is a genius" Nico said back

"I was sure she will scold us, seeing we're doing things like that in the kitchen" Maki said as Umi left

"It's okay Maki-chan, I'll tell her off if she even did" Nico replied as she tried fix the food

"That's not really what I mean by that but…" Maki lost her train of thought "Nico-chan really is acting different from before" she just told her self. "Then I won't you bothering you any longer, do your best in cooking" she said before leaving her "what-she-realized-just-now- girlfriend".

The tables are set, the rice cooked and dinner was served, the seven gathered at the dinner table to have their meal. Umi kept quiet of the scene she saw at the kitchen as she watch Nico and Maki sit beside each other. Everyone was a bit hungry, it's been a long while since they had a taste of Nico's cooking and athat made them very excited. After taking a spoonful of curry, all of them except the cook had a shocked look on their faces.

"How is it?" Nico asked everyone

"How would I put it… Hmmm" Rin started "It taste different from what I remember I guess"

"Rin-chan!" Hanayo exclaimed

"But it's still good right?" Kotori cut in taking another spoonful

"It may be a little burnt but Nico-chan did her best in making this for us so no one should complain" said Maki in a clear voice. Awkward silence followed Maki's attempt to defend Nico, Honoka then just switched on a TV situated at the room to break the tension. Nothing interesting for the group was on TV, simply a news flash about snowstorms, Japan's economy and recovered remains of two unidentified women murdered inside a car buried by the snow...

"Is my cooking not as good as it was before? If you don't want it then don't eat it, then you could just die too" Nico said in a loud voice everyone heard her over the sound of the TV, she then dropped her chopsticks and stormed out of the room, Maki chased after her, calling her name.

"May-be, Nico-chan is just feeling stressed over work or something" Hanayo said with the nervousness the group has known her for

"That must be it, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to tell she's the same person" Umi said still shocked by the sudden outburst

"That's not Nico-chan at all" Honoka said with a serious face "...I've been thinking about it for a while since we saw her here but now I can be sure that it really isn't her"

"You're not making sense Honoka-chan" Kotori chided

"That's right, how can Nico-chan not be Nico-chan? Are you saying she's changed too much? Rin added.

Everyone in the room froze when they heard another news clip from the still turned on TV…

"Idol Yazawa Nico Found Dead Inside Her Home: Police have found the brutally disfigured body after being reported by her manager to be unresponsive to emails and not showing up to appointments for three days. The Idol was tied to her bed and posses multiple bruises accompanied by several non-fatal knife wounds all over the body and face which suggest that the victim was subjected to torture and has died of shock. A smiley, the well-known trademark of the idol was drawn with the her own blood marked the wall of the room. The authorities are still looking for leads for this murder."

The bitter curry tasted even more terrible in their mouths, in a minute of news flash it came to them like a knife stab that their dear friend is dead. They all stood up and rushed to Maki not even knowing where exactly in the house she went with the unknown specter of Nico. In panic the five separated; two of them Hanayo and Rin went upstairs while the rest Honoka, Kotori and Umi searched around the first floor.

After walking out of the table in the middle of dinner, Maki pursued Nico as she dashed up the stairs into the houses sewing room. There she found Nico staring out the window to the gray sky.

"What happened to you back there all of a sudden?" Maki asked after staring for a while

"What do you mean? I'm just annoyed around them so I left, isn't that natural?"Nico replied plainly without looking at her

"Why are you being like this?" Maki said in hopelessness

"Is anything wrong? Do you not love me the way I am now?" Nico asked back now facing Maki

"Of course I still love you! It's just that it hurts me too when the group is fighting. It always reminds me of the first time" Maki exclaimed

"The first time?" Nico asked

"You know, that time when Honoka said she's quitting and you almost attacked her… Don't you remember that?"

"Oh that… Say, Maki-chan, please go ahead, I'll join you downstairs shortly" Nico insisted

"Okay, and please make-up with the others, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding" Maki said before leaving, Nico stopped her and gave her a peck and then said goodbye. Maki after leaving the room returned for another round of hugs and kisses.

Honoka's group are still searching around the house, their minds still confused. All they know is that Nico is dead and the person they are with in her place might be dangerous.

"After we get Maki, let's all leave this place" Umi said panting

"Maki-chan! Where are you?!" Kotori yelled at the top of her lungs, tears starting to form on her eyes

"We've been calling out to her for a while now, this house is just too big" Honoka said

"Could you not shout my name like that?" Maki suddenly said from behind them

"MAKI! We need to leave now, that person… that person…"Umi said in panic

"Nico-chan is dead! It's said so in the news!" Kotori added making Maki more confused, she was about to say how ridiculous they are being but then Honoka grabbed her hand

"That person with us right now is not Nico-chan. We must find Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan and get out of this place!" Maki doesn't want to accept what she is hearing, it's impossible but somehow she understood what Honoka and the other two are saying. From the moment she talked with that person she knew that it wasn't Nico, but her brain rejected what her heart is telling her. Even her heart was blinded when she heard the voice of Nico saying she loves her "Nico-chan… is dead? Is she really gone now?" She thought

"We have no time to waste, let's go" Umi said as they drag Maki and ran, Maki's eyes shows no sign of life.

Rin and Hanayo found where Maki was a moment ago and ended up in the sewing room, there sitting by the machine is who-they-thought-was-Nico playing with needles. Hanayo was about to ran out when Rin stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"Where's Maki-chan?" Rin said firmly as she stood at the doorway

"Not here as you can see" Nico said without looking at them

"Is that so… then sorry for disturbing you" Hanayo said urging Rin to leave

"Could you answer this question? Who are you?" Rin said, her eyes filled with rage, the girl met her eyes and smiled as Kotori's voice from the stairway reached the room.

"Rin-chan! Hanayo-chan! Maki-chan is here now let's go" The voice went. The pair was about to turn and get out of the room when the girl leaped to them and grabbed Hanayo by the wrist and pulled her making her lose her grab of Rin. Rin on the other hand was kicked to the stomach as soon as Hanayo was sent flying in to the room by the force of the pull. The girl then locked the door behind her leaving Rin outside.

"Maki-chan! Honoka-chan! Kotori-chan! Umi-chan! Help me Kayo-chin was! Kayo-chin was!" Rin screamed as she kick and pound on the wooden door her hands bleeding from her own force.

Inside the room, Nico continued and gave Hanayo who's still lying on the floor a kick to the stomach making her unable to scream in pain only groan.

"So you found out about me huh? No worries, I was planning on killing you all anyways" Nico said with a smile, Hanayo on the other hand just looked at her through her glasses.

"Don't stare at me like that!" She exclaimed as she stepped on Hanayo's face breaking her glasses, Hanayo was about to wail and yelp when another kick landed on her mouth.

"You really are annoying, I'm sorry but I don't have time to play with you. It will only take Maki-chan and the others a few minutes to get here so I have to make this quick. "Someone, someone save me… No, I'm not that girl anymore, Rin-chan, please don't go after me... goodbye" Hanayo last thought as her consciousness fade.

It took Maki a full three minutes to get the keys of the locked room from her own room. While she ran for it, Rin just kept on pounding the door crying. Kotori hugged her from behind and pulled her away to stop her from hurting herself and to give Maki space for her to put the key in. After opening the room they found no one there. Honoka looked down the open window and found a chain of cloth used as a rope to go down from the room, the bottom tied Hanayo. Rin upon seeing her immediately used the cloth to go down as well. The other four just stared on the lifeless body in shock as Rin approached it

"Kayo-chin, Kayo-chin… We gotta go home now. Wake up, come on" Rin pleaded as she held the body in her arms. Hanayo's face was almost unrecognizable, some of her teeth broken, her features covered in blood, but still her face still looked beautiful to Rin perhaps even more than ever before. She knows that her Kayo-chin is already dead but she doesn't want to believe it, she kept on shaking her expecting her to respond any second even after she has already confirmed that her heart and breathing stopped. Rin's arms felt warm and wet, she lay Hanayo's body on the soft snow, turned it and found her nape chopped of.

"Rin-chan!" Honoka called out rushing down from the window followed by Maki and Umi. Rin just looked up staring at them silent tears falling from her eyes. After getting her feet down on the snowy ground Honoka immediately ran to Rin and hugged her tight. There's nothing she can do, that Rin can accept but the fact that the person who did this to her is still alive is something that makes her vomit just thinking about. She covered Hanayo with snow and rushed back to the house after freeing herself from Honoka's arms.

"Rin! Stop!" Maki called out to her but Rin has made her decision, "I'm going to make her pay, I'm going to kill that demon" Honoka on the other hand chased after Rin, Umi and Maki was about to do the same when they looked up the cloth rope and window and found Kotori that wasn't there.

"Kotori!" they shouted in unison but what answered them was a thud made by Kotori's body landing on the snow, body without the head.

"If you want to pick up the rest it's here in this room" Nico said as she wave Kotori's head she's holding by the hair to Maki and Umi. She then used the knife in her other hand to chop of the cloth they've been using as rope. Umi with her rage and anger didn't even touched the body and went straight back to the house to go after Honoka and Rin leaving Maki to take care of it burying it in snow beside Hanayo's.

Rin was blinded by sadistic thoughts, there are many options but she simply wanted to make that devil feel pain the most excruciating she can inflict as possible. The first step she thought is to head for the kitchen; knives, forks, she wants to impale her with everything until she can no longer see a patch of skin where she can stab her some more. Upon arriving at the kitchen, she opened the counter drawer to get what she need but she found no knife inside the location of said knives when revealed when one hit her at the back of the head, she turned and found Nico holding two more.

"Amazing, I didn't thought I would even hit you with that" Nico said smiling

Rin pulled the knife that stabbed her and charged towards the assailant ignoring the pain the wound brought. Nico in response also charged knives in hand which made Rin charged faster. Three yards before their they clash, Nico stopped and threw the knife in her left hand aiming for Rin's forehead. Rin dashing at full speed wasn't able to dodge or stop. The knife hit her square in the face. Rin was about to tumble down when she was caught by another knife to her stomach.

Honoka was about to stop Rin from attacking Nico but she knew words won't reach her now. She just watched with a blank face as Rin fall down the kitchen floor.

"I really didn't like it when Onee-sama resisted but I guess battles can be fun too" the spectre commented with a smile "...Thanks to you Rin chan. What about you Honoka-chan? Are you here to challenge me too?" she finished noticing Honoka watching them in the kitchen.

"Rin-chan… Hanayo-chan…" Honoka muttered

"...AND KOTORI-CHAN TOO!" the other girl continued in excitement "...Man, I've killed lot's today"

Honoka died before the killer even touched her, the news is just too much, all of this is too much. Her heart is dead, she was about to do the same thing as Rin and attack without hesitating and without even a weapon when Umi grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

Umi followed by Maki joined the group in the kitchen, Rin was still struggling crawling away from her attacker. Being friends with her for a long time, she knew immediately what Honoka was about to do when they saw her stepping towards "not Nico" with that look on her face, she ran and stopped her. Maki on the other hand had just witnessed two friend deaths and almost broke when she saw Rin crawling on their kitchen floor.

"What did you do to Rin?! And Kotori and Hanayo too!" Maki asked in a scream, tears overflowing

"Oh my, so you have this side too Maki-chan? How cute" she greeted them making Maki bite her lips until they bleed. She ran towards Rin to give her first aid treatment from her terrible wounds ignoring Nico

"We're taking Rin to the hospital and leave will you let us go?" Umi bargained doing all of her best to remain collected despite the situation.

"But Rin-chan isn't even going to last long, it took Eli only a short while to stop breathing when I stabbed her in the face too and besides that, it would be hard for you to drive with all the snow piling up outside right?"

Upon hearing Eli's name along with the words "stopped breathing", Umi lost all strength and almost fall on the floor.

"Even Eli…" she whispered

"Oh that? I have to apologize I lied to you about Nozomi and Eli, lying is bad you see… I know, to make up for lying to you I'll tell you what Eli said to me before she died, until the very end she was begging me not to hurt you. You're lucky, she really loves you very much" the specter finished while waltzing around the room gleefully

The story of Eli's death made Umi lost concentration of what Honoka was doing, at the corner of her eye she saw her was when she was beside Maki who was nursing Rin.

"Umi-chan, Maki-chan, Rin-chan… I'm sorry, I'll follow Kotori-chan now goodbye" she said as she stood up with the knife Rin was using in hand. Nobody said a word, nobody was able to stop her, even Umi just looked at her blankly as Honoka drive the knife straight to her heart and fell on the floor.

Maki was crying as she was trying to stop Rin's bleeding, her wounded friend became unresponsive as her breathing became slower and slower. "at this rate she definitely won't make it" Maki's rational side kept telling her "that there's no way, there's no way" but her hands just kept on moving, her heart not wanting to give up. At the sound of Honoka's voice bidding them all farewell Maki just listened until she heard the sound of her friend's dead body hit the floor,at that same moment, Rin breathe her last.

Silence flood the room after Honoka's departure; Maki stopped treating Rin, the spectre surprised didn't utter more of her devilish comments and Umi in muteness just stared at her childhood friend's body. A few moments later, Umi picked Honoka up in her arms and carried her.

"Maki, we're leaving" Umi said as she turned her back, the only thing she said before leaving Maki who in turn didn't say a word. Umi marched in thick snow towards where Maki covered Hanayo and Kotori's body. "Look Honoka, the three of us are still together until the end, I'm really sorry for involving you, inviting you here because of my own selfish reasons… Eli's gone too, there's no point in it all. Too bad I didn't even hear from her that she loves me, but I'm still glad she did." Umi kept on going, apologizing to Hanayo because she wasn't able to bring Rin there and to Kotori because she didn't approved of her relationship with Honoka at first. As she speak words of apology and love, Umi slowly lay on the snow with them as the white bits of frost cover their bodies until everything is again quiet.

When Umi left with Honoka, Maki didn't even have the strength to stand up and chase after them, alone with the monster she accepted their faith. She simply watched as Umi and Honoka vanished from her sight as she lay Rin's body on the floor.

"That Umi-chan, it's obvious she won't last long, she's already broken" the other girl remarked sitting on the countertop

"Why do you hate Nico-chan this much?" Maki asked in desperation for answers "...for you to do all this…"

"WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ABOUT HER?! Can't I do things for my own reasons huh? Tell me Maki-chan why do people don't recognize that I exist?" She replied in a sudden burst of anger

"People?" Maki asked in a murmur

"Everyone, everyone, all of them! They always tell me that I look exactly like her and I've been ever known only as Yazawa Nico's sister ever since your pathetic idol group started. Well it was fun at first, but then I grew up and discovered that I don't exist anymore I can't even become an idol on my own because of her only a substitute when she's sick... Yazawa Nico consumed my existence so I'll do the same to her and maybe, maybe then I'll exist" the villain continued in a monologue "I won't be her replacement anymore

"Kokoro-chan…" Maki said lost of all thought

"That's right Maki-chan, let's start by you calling me by my name, we're all alone now here I'll continue by making every inch of your body know that I exist" She said as she pushed her last victim to the floor.

**Author's note: I Love Live**


End file.
